Question

Which isotope of hydrogen is used to make self-luminous paint?
(A)- Tritium
(B)- Protium
(C)- Deuterium
(D)- None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Hydrogen has three naturally occurring isotopes which are represented as $^{1}H{{,}^{2}}H\text{ and}{{\text{ }}^{3}}H$. The first two isotopes of hydrogen are stable ones while the third being a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 12.32 years.

Complete answer:
-Hydrogen however also has some heavier isotopes which are all synthetic and have a half-life less than one zeptosecond. Out of other heavier isotopes, $^{5}H$ is the most stable isotope while $^{7}H$ is the least stable heavier isotope.
-Tritium radioluminescence is the use of gaseous tritium which is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen for creating visible light.
-Tritium through beta decay emits electrons which when reacted with phosphor material emits light through the process of phosphorescence.
-The process of using radioactive material to excite a phosphor ultimately generating light is called radioluminescence.
-The idea to use tritium as a source of self-luminous compounds was patented by Edward Shapiro in the year 1953 and tritium was found to be an ideal source for this.
-Other elements which can also be used for self-powered lighting as Radium and Promethium.

So, the correct answer is option A.

Note:
Tritium isotope of hydrogen is mostly produced by bombarding a natural isotope of lithium with neutrons in a nuclear reactor and has been released during many nuclear weapons tests. Tritium is used in thermonuclear fusion weapons as a tracer in isotope geochemistry and specialized in self-powered lighting devices. Another use of tritium is for labelling experiments as a radiolabel which has become less common in recent times. D-T nuclear fusion uses tritium as its main reactant along with deuterium which liberates energy through the loss of mass occurring due to collision of two nuclei and fusion at high temperatures.